Editor's Choice

Cleveland among the cohabitation capitals of the U.S.

Cleveland is a hotbed for shacking up.
So says USA Today — though not exactly in those terms — in a story based on census data out today.
Unmarried couples made up 12% of U.S. couples in 2010, a 25% increase in 10 years. USA Today says the share of couples who are not married “has risen in many places but is highest in areas that offer many people grim prospects for a better financial future: old industrial cities and the Mississippi Delta.”
For instance, in Camden, N.J., 35% of couples are not married, up from 28% in 2000 and the highest of any city with at least 50,000 people, according to USA Today. Other cities where more couples are choosing not to marry: Rochester, N.Y., 33%, up from 26%; Flint, Mich., 29%, up from 21%; and Cleveland, 27%, up from 20%.
"Couples whose employment opportunities are more precarious tend not to marry," Stephanie Coontz, a sociologist with the Council on Contemporary Families, tells the newspaper. Many "are hedging their bets — waiting to see if they can improve their long-term odds by making sure they're economically and emotionally secure with each other."

Cheap housing available

Need more proof that the housing market remains rough? This will fill the bill.
CNNMoney.com reports that a new study from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed property, shows there's a three-year inventory of homes in foreclosure that are for sale nationwide, and it's devastating to home prices.
Foreclosures now represent a stunning 45% of sales in California and Arizona, and 28% of all existing home sales during the first three months of 2011.
What's more, CNNMoney.com says, homes are selling at big discounts, especially so-called REOs, which are bank-owned homes that have been taken in foreclosure procedures.
The average REO home costs about 35% less than comparable properties, according to RealtyTrac.
Ohio was one of the markets where that discount is even greater — 50%.
Also weighing on market prices, CNNMoney.com says, are "short sales" of homes, where the selling price is less than what is owed by the borrowers. These sales sold at an average 9% discount.
“Including both REOs and short sales, Ohio had the biggest discount of any state, at 41%,” CNNMoney.com reports.

High flyer

An executive who left Cleveland-based Hawk Corp. in January is in charge of taking his new employer public.
B. Christopher DiSantis, formerly president of Hawk, is CEO of Latrobe Specialty Steel Co., which is looking to go public under the name Latrobe Specialty Metals Inc. in an offering for a maximum of $175 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Hawk was purchased last October by Charlotte-based Carlisle Cos. for $413 million.)
Latrobe makes specialty metal and high-performance alloys such as nickel alloys, titanium nickel alloys and carbon-based products for the aerospace, defense, medical and energy industries. The Pittsburgh Business Times reports the IPO is not related to the company's plan to expand its titanium wire business.
The Pittsburgh paper notes this isn't the first public offering for the company, which was founded in 1913, nor is Mr. DiSantis its only Northeast Ohio tie.
“In 1965, it listed on the New York Stock Exchange as Latrobe Steel,” the Business Times reports. “Then in 1975 the company merged with Timken Co. as a way to fight off a hostile takeover led by Eastmet Corp.”
In 2006, Timken sold Latrobe to a group of investors for about $215 million.
You also can follow me on Twitter for more news about business and Northeast Ohio.